The 13th SCGA Super Senior Championship has concluded with the crowning of two champions, Ray Vanyo of Banning (pictured), who earned his 2nd Super Senior Gross Division title, and Bob Tyler from Silverlinks GC, who earned this year’s Net Division Championship.
Soule Park GC proved to be a wonderful venue and a great test for this year’s championship as even par in the Gross Division was good enough to capture the victory for Vanyo, the 74th win of his career. By winning this tournament, Vanyo is now exempt into the 2013 SCGA Senior Amateur Championship, which will be held at Virginia CC in Long Beach next June.
When asked how he felt about his victory, he replied, “Looks like I am not retiring from golf just yet!.”
Tuesday's round represented the 512th time Vanyo has shot his age, a very impressive feat by anyone’s standards. Vanyo’s last appearance at Soule Park was 16 years ago at a Senior Tour Qualifier, when he earned an alternate spot. When asked about how the course compared from then to now he mentioned that, “the course is playing at least five to six shots harder than it used to!”
Rounding out the top finishers were Frank Merhar (77-72-149) from La Jolla, Michael Mahoney (72-77-149) from La Jolla and Warren Shafer (75-74-149) from San Diego, who all finished in a three-way tie for second place. Stephen Shuchter (74-76-150) from San Diego and Kenneth Knott (74-76-150) from Los Angeles rounded out the top five after finishing in a tie for third.
In the Net Division, Tyler (pictured) (65-67-132) led the tournament wire-to-wire to secure what ended up to be a four-shot victory. Tyler, who carded three birdies on the day, went on to secure the victory in strong fashion. Joseph Ortega (67-69-136) from Santa Barbara Men’s GC finished the tournament numerically tied with Creighton Hart Jr. (68-68-136) from Sterling Hills GC, but earned second place using the USGA Method of matching score cards. In fourth place was Harry Bobbit (68-70-138) from Santa Anita GC. Rounding out the top five was Charles South (67-72-139) from Golf Coast GC.
